give it up

Ron “Don’t Say Gay” DeSantis’ presidential bid keeps going from bad to worse… to even worse

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Ron DeSantis standing behind microphones wearing a dark suit jacket, white shirt and red tie.

Ron “Don’t Say Gay” DeSantis is a wounded political animal. He’s seen his poll numbers crater before even announcing his presidential campaign, and he’s the subject of relentless attacks from Donald Trump and his MAGA surrogates.

The Florida governor seemingly wanted to bill himself as “MAGA without the drama.” Instead, he’s become a cautionary tale.

It was another rough week for DeSantis, who spent the weekend testing out his awkward brand of retail politics in Iowa, which will hold the first caucus for Republicans in the 2024 cycle. The New York Times published an extensive story about his recent woes, including quotes from some disillusioned donors and former supporters.

“I was in the DeSantis camp,” said businessman Andrew Sabin, who donated $50,000 to the anti-gay politician last year. “But he started opening his mouth, and a lot of big donors said his views aren’t tolerable.”

DeSantis has taken a far-right turn ever since winning reelection in November, leaning hard into the culture wars. Most recently, he signed a bill legalizing anti-LGBTQ+ medical discrimination, which allows healthcare providers to deny care on the basis of “a conscience-based objection.”

In February, the Florida board of medicine outlawed gender-affirming care for trans minors, and a bill recently passed the Florida House that would make it a felony to provide transgender-affirming care to minors. Earlier this year, DeSantis expanded Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, which prohibits classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity, to cover all grade levels.

But DeSantis’ pandering to the most extreme wings of the GOP hasn’t paid off. The NYT article cites his flip-flopping on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (DeSantis called the war a “territorial dispute” before backing off) and support of Florida’s six-week abortion ban as especially damaging.

There’s also his futile war with Disney, his state’s largest private employer and tourism attraction.

The NYT says three billionaires who are prominent Republican donors–Steve Wynn, Ike Perlmutter and Thomas Peterffy–recently dined with long-shot candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (Peterffy has already said he’s pausing his financial support of DeSantis).

Then there’s the Trump factor. The pugilistic former president, who’s bludgeoned DeSantis for weeks, is only expanding his assault. In a recent interview, Trump said DeSantis lacks personality, and has little “political skill” (DeSantis’ personality has previously been compared to a “piece of paper“).

“I think the media has said he’s doing a terrible job and he doesn’t know what he’s doing,” Trump told The Messenger.

DeSantis is bad at the podium. And, apparently, he’s just as off-putting in private.

The NYT article includes an anecdote about freshman Florida representative Corey Mills, who called DeSantis to thank him for his support, and never received a call back.

Last month, Trump rolled out endorsements from 10 Florida House Republicans.

“Donors who contributed to Mr. DeSantis’s previous campaigns tell stories of meetings in which the candidate looked as though he would rather be anywhere else,” the NYT reports. “He fiddled with his phone, showed no interest in his hosts and escaped as quickly as possible.”

Unfortunately for DeSantis, there’s no escape from public humiliation.

Scroll down for more reaction about his flailing campaign, including a hilarious parody video from the great Randy Rainbow…

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